


Shuffle Spinner

by Lattemi



Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Multi, Smash Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, i haven't detailed any relationships because i want the final one to be a surprise at the end so oof
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-05-02 16:59:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14549220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lattemi/pseuds/Lattemi
Summary: Freed from the clutches of Subspace, the Nintenverse rejoices happily with (of course) a grand festive ball! So surely, a girl's got to find the perfect person to spend the evening with. But how can you choose when there's so many choices?Mostly told from Nana's point of view, as to not spoil any future plot details ;).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Temi here. I was in the mood for something lighthearted this week, so I decided to start planning and writing a weird romance type of fic, I guess.  
> 'puppeteers' is still in the works, and I'm not going to abandon it, but I'm going to be rotating between writing this and 'puppeteers'. (It has, like, a pretty surreal plot, and it's kind of complex, so it'll take a bit more planning than this one-off has.) The planning for the whole of this fic took about 4 pages of a document (and this is only the first chapter,,) but it's just a regular slice-of-life/romance kind of thing. I guess I was more laid back with writing this chapter, hehe.
> 
> In case the summary didn't do much justice, here's the sentence I was going to just use off my planning doc:
> 
> "Nana can't decide which guy she wants to get with oof"

"We  _get the idea_ , Nana! You're excited."

Nana sighed dreamily, eyes still full of elation from the moment the news of the grand celebration had been announced. Although it was only months after the devastating Subspace incident, the entirety of the Nintenverse had managed to patch itself up: even amongst the seemingly endless conflicts that had scarred the lands, the universe had paved the way for a swift recovery – thanks to the figures now known as the Smashers.

Technically, they were already known as the Smashers, since the eponymous tournaments they took their title from had been going on for several years in the 'verse. The tournaments united famous and infamous figures alike in brawls of the ages. Initially, they were hosted as a recreational event, simply as a way for the characters of various franchises to meet and get to know one another. Many believed that the best way for the universe to thrive would be on the emotional bonds and friendships forged between its citizens, to ensure the smooth execution of a team effort against any given crises. Yet eventually, the manor of celebrity figures had evolved into the headquarters of a prestigious battle squadron, banded together to defend the inhabitants of the Nintenverse in chaos; to be invited to join the ranks of the Smashers was a noble honour admired by all.

The squadron – joined by several more characters who had proved useful as additions to their arsenal along the way – had successfully liberated their world from the clutches of Subspace. Upon Tabuu's defeat, the universe rejoiced with glowing bliss. They had been freed from the endless maze, once and for all!

Caught up in the delight of their victory, some of the Smashers (namely Peach, Pit, and Captain Falcon) had planned in the months after an "extravagant, awesome and absolutely brilliant and wonderful" grand 'ball' (for lack of a better name) to invite not just the elite characters of the 'verse, but anyone who so wished to attend. Surely, the joy of their freedom should have been shared collectively and amongst the people they had rescued? And, surely enough, after desperate negotiations, Master Hand himself gave permission for the holding of the grand ball.

"You don't understand, Toon. We don't normally have big fancy parties like this back home. Of course I'm excited!" she beamed, inadvertently bouncing with animation at the thought of the ball. This statement, she had made about twelve times in the past hour - and her peers had been forced to remain in their dorm listening to Nana discuss dresses and her exaggerated hopes for the big celebration.

Ness grinned. "I mean, I'm not gonna lie – I can't wait to see what food they're going to have."

"I bet it's going to be  _awesome_! Ah, I really can't-"

"Okay, what's so  _exciting_  about it that's making you so hyper?" Toon huffed, almost past his limit in bearing Nana's gleeful outbursts and squeals. "So there's gonna be sparkly chandeliers and you get to wear a pretty dress. And?"

True enough, Nana was glad that she would have the chance to act more like a 'lady' at the ball. She didn't show her more feminine side often – of course, there were several topics that she would rather discuss with her female companions than boys, but when they had first met her, Nana seemed to be anything but girly. Besides having a strong affinity for the colour pink, true to the stereotype, she did not care for make-up or jewellery, and especially looking for boys (something she viewed as a waste of time), to say the very least. The Nana that the boys were talking to now seemed to have completely turned over a new leaf.

" _Well_ ," she smirked, "seeing as you're so keen to know..."

"I just don't see what could make a girl so excited besides dresses and girly stuff."

"You get to go with someone when there's big parties like this, right?"  
Lucas blinked, surprised by Nana's statement. "You mean like...like a date?"  
"Yeah!" she smiled widely. "That's what I'm looking forward to most. Finding a special person to enjoy the evening with..."

"Oh! So you are going out with Popo."  
At this exclamation, both Nana and Popo turned wildly on Ness, snapping in unison, "No!"

"How many years is it going to take us to convince you we aren't like that, Ness? You've known us since Melee." Popo sighed, face flushed a faint red. He turned to his best friend, who had buried her face in her lap out of frustration from Ness's remark – one she hadn't heard for the first time.

"Are you going to go with someone else?"

Looking up, she replied, "I mean, we always go together to things like this for convenience, don't we?" The pink from her face remained a ghost painted all over her laugh, though she tried to hide it. After a short pause, she continued.

"So...I thought we should play a little game, before the day of the ball~."

Popo's previously relaxed expression suddenly contorted into a look of vague fear the moment she'd uttered the word "game". If it was a game of Nana's, it probably wasn't the average person's idea of a fun one.

"…what's this game, exactly?" he asked quietly.

Nana sat up, grinning smugly at the slightly nervous boy. She raised her index finger towards him, poking his nose in the same joking way she usually did (it wasn't as if he wasn't used to it by now).

"It's called 'which one of us can get a date before the ball'."

Popo's head turned sharply towards her, surprised. "Nana! That's going to be so hard, though. I don't know many...girls my age. Besides you, but-"

She swung her arm round his shoulder playfully. "If worst comes to worst, you could, you know, just ask another boy or something."

" _Nana!_ " Popo shrieked, abruptly shifting away from her. "I don't like-"

"Hey, it's called Smash  _Bros_  for a reason." She shrugged. "I'll go with you if neither us can find a date before the ball, but I'm sure I'm gonna win. Hehe!"

Rolling his eyes, Popo sighed again. "Fine, whatever." He tended to play along with whatever strange schemes Nana thought up (unless it was something quite stupid, in which case he'd just leave her to it). This particular scheme, however, was fairly different to the antics the pair of them had gotten up to in the past – Nana never brought up anything to do with romance usually, least of all in front of Popo. Her change of heart hadn't just startled him alone, however.

"Won't that be a bit too easy for you, though, Nana?" Lucas frowned. "You could just ask one of us. It wouldn't even have to be as a couple, you could just go with someone as a friend like you usually do with Popo anyway."

"The point of the challenge is to find someone you can go with as a couple! So, someone you like. And I don't really like any of you like that anyway." she huffed in reply.

_...Not now, anyway._

Nana noticed Popo's now flustered manner, upon hearing that he'd have to find someone that he liked.  
"Cheer up, Popo. You get all the girls back at home. I'm sure you can convince one of them to go with you or something." She paused thoughtfully. "Last I remember, you said you liked-"  
"Not anymore I don't! That was years ago. It was just- just a weird infatuation kind of thing. I didn't really like her."

A wide smirk stretched across Ness's knowing expression. "I bet you're just going to end up going together anyway. Considering the game is to go with someone you  _like..."  
_ Only moments later was he met by the painful force of Nana's hand slapping him across the face, his smirk vanishing in an instant.

"You'll see," she grinned determinedly, nodding.

"I'm going to find the right guy!"


	2. Dress to Impress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nana's older female friends decide to annoy her a bit.
> 
> ...they just go dress shopping, but dresses are barely mentioned in this chapter :") I mostly tried to add more characterisation here, I guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry about the extremely late update, I don't have a regular upload schedule yet but exams are finally out of the way and I can devote myself to writing and drawing again :") This particular chapter probably isn't as eventful, but I'm trying to,, add characterisation, I suppose? I hope some people find this interesting, I know it's pretty cheesy but I'm a hopeless romantic h
> 
> Context for some things:  
> \- "Nins" are the currency in the universe  
> \- "Nintencity" is sort of like the central part of the universe, where characters from games congregate to do basic mundane things like shopping, hosting events or just hanging out  
> \- I have a little headcanon that the characters in the universe don't actually age considering they're just fictional characters who only exist within games set in no specific time with a start or end. This is explained in more detail in my story 'puppeteers'.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! (I feel like I wrote way too much for this oops)

"I don't like any of you like that anyway" was a bit of lie, now that Nana thought about it.

No, she wasn't madly in love with any of her peers, especially not Popo. But she'd be dishonest if she was to say she hadn't randomly thought about a date or two with just  _maybe_  one of them. (Except Popo.) It wasn't as if they were hideous, inside or outside, and even though Ness and Toon were irritating annoyances to her from time to time, they weren't  _bad_. Nana knew that well enough. But she'd always thought and assumed from her other female friends' experiences that it began with a crush; a doting to one person that you knew you truly wanted, to begin being in love with someone. Falling in love! Surely that was the truth? Yet in all her forty-something years of life, Nana had never felt this way about anyone, at least, she didn't think she had. And she most certainly didn't feel that way about Popo, unlike everyone seemed to think. It wasn't as if they even acted much like a couple, other than spending a lot of time together and holding hands occasionally. But holding hands didn't automatically mean two people were a couple, and she was often irritated by why passersby did not seem to understand such a simple thing. Nana wondered if people would think the same thing if they were both girls or both boys sometimes, though of course, even a relationship in that context wasn't impossible.

Initially ("initially" meaning by the time she'd begun to ascend into adolescence, which was quite some time ago), she'd never really wanted to consider getting a boyfriend. As far as she remembered, almost all the other girls in her own village didn't seem to have much of a concern for anything else  _but_  looking for boys. Any time Nana made conversation with them, the topic always seemed to redirect back to which boy looked the most handsome, or what type was best - conversations she did not have much to contribute to. One of the things the girls were disappointed about the most was the fact that they would never grow to the age of marriage eligibility, because of the frozen preservation of age Master Hand kept the inhabitants of the Nintenverse accustomed to. The few girls she did talk to who didn't fawn over the potential suitors of their village spent their time instead devoting themselves to household chores and work – though she could tolerate them a little more, Nana ended up finding herself just as bored as she would have been interacting with the other girls. This was why she had come to spend more time with Popo instead.

Of course, that didn't mean she avoided the other females at Smash because of her own experience with other girls.

"Three weeks! I can hardly wait!" Peach beamed, gazing at the myriad of gowns in her seemingly-endless wardrobe. She was perhaps the only other person who was more excited than Nana.

"Three weeks is quite a long time." replied Zelda. "Almost a month."

"I just hope I'll be able to prepare it all in time. Even with some of you helping, there'll be so much to do, considering anyone and everyone is invited."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself, it's only a little party. Though, I suppose you'll invest in making us buy a bunch of fancy dresses and insisting on a formal dress code." Samus raised her eyebrows suspiciously at the princess, who only grinned back:

"It's  _mandatory_. Everyone has to look their very best, Sammy."

"That's easy enough for you to say. How many dresses do you have again?"

"Oh, would you like to borrow some?" Peach browsed through her collection of ensembles, before selecting a lacy azure-blue ballgown adorned with various gems of the like. No one seemed to question whether she had purchased her gowns from one of the dress stores in the Nintencity or if, somehow, her tiny Toad assistants had put them together at her request. Regardless, it was a beautiful dress, Nana had to admit, though she couldn't see herself being stuck in such an overly pouffy outfit. She thought she might drown in the excess of the fabric curled around the whole of the gown.

"I think this one would suit you excellently, Sammy! ... Oh! That reminds me! You're going to need a dress too, Nana, aren't you?" Speak of the devil. "I don't suppose you have anything of your own already? Traditional village clothes and headdresses?"

Nana blinked. "Well, they're...all at home. I didn't think I'd need them here." She thought about her mother's old wedding robes and some other fabrics she had been given some time before as a young child. "Besides, they- they wouldn't really suit the dress code." The robes had been locked in her cupboard for as long as Nana could remember, and the only thing she wanted to regard them as were distant memories.

"Not to worry, sweetie. We can always think of a way around...oh, do you think my dresses might-"

"I propose a little shopping trip this weekend. That way we can all get what we want for the ball, and we won't have to force Miss Peach to go through the trouble of lending us her lovely dresses." Zelda interrupted, winking at Nana.

"Oh? But you don't think maybe  _one_  dress might fit, maybe, if I shrink-"

Samus sighed loudly. "Sounds good. I'm up for it if you all are. I have other stuff to get in Nintencity anyway."

Trust Zelda and Samus to save Nana from the hell of dancing in a cotton ball and embarrassing herself.

Peach looked her wardrobe up and down carefully for a moment, before shutting it and nodding. "We'll just get permission from Master Hand to get tickets for the train."

Having retrieved her purse, and beginning to count her Nins, Zelda replied, "He's bound to let us go. The tournament's not until a few months, he doesn't have much to worry about, does he?"

"Mm, but isn't Master Hand usually super strict about training hard and stuff?" Nana frowned. "He's...scary when he gets angry."

"Oh, you're overreacting, Nana. Besides, what excuse could he make?"

"We  _are_  girls!" Peach giggled.

* * *

Because Smash Bros as a game itself was a major event in the Nintenverse, it was closer to the centre than less-known games such as Nana's own. She never bothered to go to the shopping quarter let alone the centre very often, because she found herself content with the few coloured parkas she owned and clothes she wouldn't ever grow out of, though the small amount of times she had dragged Popo along with her to look around, it had ended up being her asking him every three seconds about dresses and the like she wanted to try on and see how she looked. Her enthusiasm for somewhat feminine things had perhaps first been shown there, but she was glad her friend hadn't ridiculed her for it - not that he would, Nana knew that. She began to think she might have enjoyed the shopping trip a little more if he was there, before remembering the 'game' she had suggested to Popo. Initially, she had planned to do it as a joke to tease him with his inevitable embarrassment at the suggestion, but she soon realised that taking such a thing seriously might shut up her peers once and for all and prove that she didn't have feelings for Popo.

It had been an awfully long time since she had been to Nintencity's shopping quarter, so she was mostly following her older female counterparts around the clothing aisles, glancing at vaguely appealing hairpins or jewellery from time to time.

"You  _do_  know why having a good dress is important, don't you, Nana?" Peach's bright voice suddenly piped up.

Nana blinked, feigning ignorance. As far as the older Smashers knew, she was innocent to anything and everything because of how young she looked.

"To be more beautiful?"

"Oh, you're already beautiful, darling!" Peach grinned, turning around to face her. "But yes, that's true. A spectacular outfit will beautify you even more - to impress gentlemen." the princess winked.

Or, perhaps her cover was blown the whole time.

"Peach, does our Nana here seem like the type who cares about impressing boys? I don't know about you, but she's always seemed like a bit of a tomboy, if I do say so myself." Samus laughed, looking over some neon-coloured heels on display.

"I'm not-"

Zelda sighed. "We should really stop talking about her like she's not there. Though Nana, I must admit," she paused thoughfully, "you do seem to suddenly be more into things like these now that the ball's coming round. Is there a - I don't know, a - certain someone you're thinking of?"

Nana's blank-faced tactic failed her, forcing her to turn away to try and hide her slightly embarrassed expression. Why she now felt a little awkward wasn't clear to her at the time, but she had now realised her facade might not have even fooled the rest of the girls in the first place.

"Oh, yes." nodded Peach as the group strolled along to the dress aisle. "I always have wondered why you prefer to spend your time with those rowdy boys rather than us cultured ladies."

She shook her head, stuttering, "It's not, it's not like that or anything! You're all really nice to me, I just- they're... I dunno, uh-"

"Well, I suppose they're the only other people here in your age range. We just wondered if you happened to take an interest in any of them, that was all."

She felt her cheeks become warmer, her flustered expression now coupled with a blushing face pinker than her parka, though she didn't blush solely out of embarrassment, not when she could plainly see Zelda and Samus' smirking faces, Peach giggling loudly in front of her. Nana already had to put up with the unbearable annoyance of her peers "shipping" her (as people apparently called it nowadays) with Popo, but the experience was even worse around her seniors who fawned over them almost all the time. Biting her lip, she sucked in a sharp breath. Any moment now, they would bring up-

"I thought you would have just gone with Popo out of - oh, what do you call it? -  _convenience_." Nana felt Samus' eyes settle even more heavily on her clear unease. They were all staring at her.

"No! No, because there wouldn't have been any reason for us to pretend to- to be dates. And convenience gets boring! I challenged him to find an actual date before me, which, may I add, I highly doubt he will, but- ah, well-"

Peach smiled. "Considering one of the other boys, then? Do they know about this?"

"Yeah, but- if I DO ask one of them, it won't be-" - she started inspecting some nearby hats very intently - "for real. I'll be remotely happy with them at the thing, but not in a  _serious_  way."

"Serious?" The Hylian princess raised her eyebrow. "You seem to be serious enough about this to bother challenging Popo in the first place."  
Nana didn't bother saying anything in reply, knowing too many words would splutter out if she tried opening her mouth. Words she didn't and wouldn't want to say.

Did they think this was some sort of joke? ...Though, now that she thought about it, the 'adults' in the mansion seemed to find everything the younger Smashers did funny. "Puberty, an amusing process to watch." Nana heard Captain Falcon say once.

Once Peach had finally ceased her incessant laughing, she gently patted Nana on the head. "Okay, we'll lay off now, then. Sorry. You'll forgive us though, won't you?"

"Fine." she replied, still pouting a little from her earlier irritation. "But, I- I will find a different date at some point! Who  _isn't_  at the mansion!"

Zelda grinned back at her.

"Well, let's hurry up and find what we came here to look for, then!"


	3. Inquiries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First time I've written from Popo's POV in this lol.  
> I might include other characters' POVs if it's necessary, but it /was/ necessary to put Popo's in because of what happens in this chapter. Even though it's kind of uneventful, I tried to write a bit more about...feelings, I guess?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhfdhjfs. Long time no see,, :"D
> 
> Exams are over (they were over ages ago, I'm just lazy), and now I have motivation to write again! Sorry about the inactivity, I guess I was just doing more drawing instead of thinking how to develop a good plot for this. (Yeah, it's planned, just not in a very good way lmao)
> 
> I'll be updating puppeteers at some point once I also figure out how to write the next chapter well, but at least this one's up-to-date for now. Things are probably gonna go a bit slowly in this story, but I'm gonna plan my writing schedule now, so I'll be updating weekly from now on on Saturdays!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter I guess ;v;

At least one of Nana's dilemmas for the ball was checked off of the list.

Not that she wasn't already pretty enough, of course. She was quite sure she looked decent enough the way she was, even if she didn't really bother with make-up or what outfits she wore each day – primarily, because she wore her parka over her clothes anyway most of the time, so it wouldn't make much of a difference, and in the rare occasion that she did remove her parka, onlookers would only be greeted with a woolen jumper accompanied by some baggy salopettes. But who was to say that wasn't attractive? Besides, she had beautiful hair – dull brown, but almost always tied up neatly in long braids that could win  _any_  guy over. And how could she forget to mention her eyes? She was always told that her eyes were a fascinating shade of lilac blended with a deep blue – maybe the similar kind of blue to Popo's. (Was that why people thought they were siblings?) Needless to say, she was fairly confident in her ability to pick up a suitor.

Modesty wasn't one of Nana's strong points.

"...Did you not buy anything, then, Nana?" Toon Link looked quizically at her. She expected he'd thought she was going to burst in and start flaunting whatever stunning gown she'd laid her hands on.

"Of course I did, dummy. But it's a surprise, so you'll have to wait another two weeks until you see what it looks like!" she smirked back.

"Well, you can go ahead and primp yourself up as much as you want to without  _us_. That's girl stuff."

Nana frowned. "And have  _you_  gotten something for the ball, Toonie? Not that you'd care, of course."  
"Eh, I'll wait until later. There's no hurry," he replied dismissively.

"Come to think of it, I'm not sure I actually have any formal clothes..." Lucas mused, glancing over to his dresser. "Maybe we should have tagged along with you on Sunday, Nana."

Ness scoffed, "Yeah, and look dumb walking around like we're Miss Peach's little babies or something? No thanks."

"It would have been for a good cause, though, right?"

"It'd still be embarrassing!"

Popo, who had been sitting quietly and listening to the conversation for some time, finally decided to make a comment on the topic: "I second Lucas' point. I mean, we can't really turn up in the same clothes we're wearing now."

The current clothes (of his own, at least) that Popo referred to were almost identical to Nana's, the only difference being the periwinkle shade of the fabric of his puffy parka. Nana understood what he meant, considering how out of place they alone would seem wrapped up in the same attire they would use for ice climbing at a fancy party.

"Imagine if you  _did_  go like that, though!" she giggled. "You'd look like a blue Santa or something."

Her climber friend only glared back at her with an eyebrow raised. It was a look she was familiar with, because it was the stare he always gave her whenever she teased him about something funny or (most of the time) stupid.

"Anyway, how's your date search going, Popo?" she said, deciding to change the subject. "I know it's only been a week since I announced our little game, but I'm curious."

He shrugged. "I told you, I don't really know who to ask. Why did you come up with this game, anyway?"

"You know why," she grinned, only to be met by Popo's raised eyebrow once again.

Ness made his way over to Popo, who was sat somewhat lazily on his bunk, and made an effort to loudly whisper into his ear, eyes fixed on Nana with a mischievous grin.

"She's only asking because she'll get jealous if you do find a date."

His attempt to get under Nana's skin was fruitless, as she rolled her eyes back at him. She'd put up with him for, what, six years? This was a normal thing to hear. She did wonder how different things would be if Ness wasn't there to be annoying in the first place, however. It might be something like a slightly less interesting other life she didn't know of, where she had not followed the destiny she now led. Would she want to be on that other side of the mirror?

"You're becoming like me, Ness. I'm a brilliant influence to you." Toon Link snickered.

" _Like_  you? I've always been like this!"

"Oh, well, I feel pretty sorry for Nana, then."

Nana decided she quite liked this side of her mirror enough.

* * *

"Oh, we're both on kitchen duty too."

 _Dedede, Pit, Zelda, Lucas_ and  _Nana_ , the timetable read. The hooded pink girl and striped-shirted boy were observing it on the grand noticeboard set up in the middle of the lobby downstairs, hung next to the kitchen itself. The only other relevant notices on there were training schedules and upcoming events for specific Smashers, but other than that, it was mostly spammed by weird post-its and doodles added by various anonymous fighters; Toon Link and Pit being amongst the not-so anonymous of them.

Popo also accompanied the two, mostly because Nana was there but also because he didn't really have anything else to do. It was clear to him now, however, that he didn't have any business here either, so leaving them to their chores might be the best thing to do. She may have been Player 2, but Nana didn't need looking after all the time - even any of the time, Popo knew that well enough. That was why they swapped who was lead climber in brawls occasionally, a decision which was surprisingly, to others, often effective against the more...bulky opponents. He figured this was because of Nana's reckless but sometimes lucky decisions to dash in and attack at the very instant the announcer boomed "GO!", instead of waiting a few precious moments the way he preferred to.

"That means dinner'll be nice today now  _I'm_  here," Nana laughed. Lucas caught her eye for a short while, and she quickly added, "With a bit of good ol' help, of course."

"I'm looking forward to it. I'll see you guys later, okay?" Popo smiled.

"You won't be disappointed!"

He gave a small wave as he turned to clamber back up the staircase, until he paused momentarily at the top on the first floor. Returning to his dormitory would be just as boring, and he wasn't in the mood for his typical quiet reading to himself. It was more enjoyable when Nana was there to listen to him. Sighing, he decided to head to the common room a couple of floors above.

It was a high twisting flight of stairs, the very feature of the mansion that made it seem bigger inside than it looked on the outside. The stairs circled round and round the central space that the downstairs lobby occupied; viewing it from below was almost dizzying to the eye that was welcomed by a seemingly endless staircase. Each floor of course had its extensions on either side, so that leaving the flight on each floor led you down mazes of corridors to various sleeping quarters shared by the inhabitants of the manor. Oddly enough, despite the grandeuse spaciousness of the building, the Smashers were still made to share accommodation, a hardship most did not argue against, but silently endured with much agitation. The rooms themselves were just incredibly large, presumably designed as so deliberately by Master Hand to force them to create "friendships" between each other. Such efforts varied from amazingly successful to chaos. Popo had to admit, however, that the more discordant relationships in the mansion were what made Smash life any interest in the first place.

He had only just completed his strenuous trek up the staircase when a gentle hand suddenly patted him lightly on the shoulder, as if it was afraid to scare him away for no apparent reason. Turning around in surprise, he faced the figure who had gained his attention-

"Ashley? I didn't know you were visiting so late. What are you doing here?"

She played with her left twintail, curling and spinning it around her finger - nervously? Popo wasn't very good at reading expressions, except maybe Nana's - before looking directly at him in the eyes. The little witch was pretty much the same height, albeit a bit shorter, than the Ice Climbers, though she was only a little over a year older than them in game age. Popo was only really confused because she shouldn't have any business at the mansion, considering she wasn't an assist trophy let alone a Smasher. He wasn't sure why she would want to visit Wario, either.

"Oh, I needed to drop something off for Wario."

Okay, maybe he was wrong.

"Oh, right."

In truth, he had only interacted with Ashley once, at a past tournament where he, Ness, Nana and Young Link had met her after a fiasco with some of her witchcraft had caused some trouble in the spectators' zone and drawn attention to any nearby onlookers. After that, they had seen her around Nintencity vaguely from time to time, but their acquaintance was nothing more than- well, an acquaintance.

"I needed to ask you something, though."

He blinked, staring back at her glinting red gaze. This was only their second interaction, and she was acting like they had known each other for years? (Well, they'd known  _of_  each other, he'd give her that.)

"...What is it, then?"


End file.
